3R Survey Log

Must… sleep… now. More later!

Project Status

• daily contributions:
• running total: 23.52 miles

Ok, this is more like Central Pennsylvania! Rain, or at least the prospect of it… Today we decided to head over to Lingle Valley for a change of scenery (maybe rhododendron and Mountain Laurel instead of Mountain Laurel and rhododendron).

We went up Stone Creek Rd, then over Chestnut Spring Rd to Conklin Rd. Vince had some theory about the rr heading for Otter Gap, as Kline’s map shows it reaching the county line. Since Conklin Rd seems to be solidly between Lingle Valley Rd and Otter Gap, I thought it seemed like a good place for an initial viewing.

We begin by wandering aimlessly about the large horseshoe at the west of Conklin Rd. I noted a nice little spring with an amusing sand spout effect on the bottom. Cute. We then crashed through undergrowth for a while, becoming ensnared in two deer control areas. It sprinkled. Nothing interesting found, other than some suspiciously large and old tree stumps in the area. I then sent Vince to check out the spring before we moved on. It seemed to be taking a long time… Turns out he had developed some theory involving various mounds, dips, and wood scraps around the spring. Ok, ok, I agree it is suspicious. But faint! We followed it a bit upstream, and a bit downstream. It’s suspicious, in that it seems larger rocks are pushed aside, but I’m a little wary. If it is anything, it could be the extreme end of it. Or it could be space aliens. I suggested we move downstream for additional viewings.

We stopped just east of Spruce Mtn Rd on a big curve. We crashed through brush. It rained harder. We saw what could be something. Larger rocks pushed aside? Or not. I suggested we move downstream for additional viewings.

We went perhaps 0.5 mile east on Lingle Valley Rd and found a spot relatively free from brush. Going 100 feet south, I encountered nice, solid, good ole fashioned rock RoW. Bingo! At least we know they came this far. With this waypointed, we decide to head someplace drier for lunch.

After later review, Vince reports that it is almost exactly 5 miles from downtown Milroy to the horseshoe on Conklin Rd. That jibes well with the 5 mile length reported by Kline.

We are still trying to figure out where the large horseshoe shown by Kline might be, so today we decided to explore downhill from Little Flat Fire Tower. We headed out the MST, then I went down Kettle Trail to Lonberger Path, while Vince went down Spruce Gap Tr, cutting east across the end of the mountain to reach the portion of Lonberger Path headed almost due north.

Kettle trail is quite steep, so any grade evidence should be strong. I found nothing. Lonberger Path seems to have some potential in places (e.g. small fills), but seems way too winding in places. Could this really be the gravity tram path? Hmmm.

Vince reported similar steepness where he went. Reaching Lonberger he reported (via radio) a rather nice railroad-scale cut. He decided to walk Lonberger out to Galbraith Gap. While waiting, I explored along Bear Meadows Rd, finding some curious stuff at places. I could believe that Bear Meadows Rd is mostly on the path of the gravity tram, and that these curious bits might be uncovered areas. But then why in the world did they construct Lonberger Path and name it after the operator of the mill at Bear Meadows? I also found a truly odd plant with seedpods (?) that resemble yogurt covered raisins. I think it’s a space alien bush. [Consultation with flora experts reveals that this is white baneberry or doll's eyes. I will continue to think of it as space alien bush, thank you very much!]

Meeting Vince, he proclaimed that “There is no @$%#%$ way that Lonberger is the tramroad. That last switchback is too steep!”. I think we are ready to move to another area.

On the way up to Little Flat far tar I noticed “something in the woods” on the south side of Laurel Run Rd. Exploration showed what seems a logging road (very rough and rocky) angling up the hillside. It fades out within 75 feet of good rock RoW, which I switched over to. Coming to the sharp curve on the rock RoW nearly at the top of the mountain, I noticed that our recently discovered “alternate roadbed” near that spot looks an awful lot like this logging road. Blech. Vince suggests beer at the Eutaw House. I concur.

Today we decided to direct our efforts towards the switchbacks from Laurel Run into Bear Meadows. We started by exploring a bit at the horseshoe on Laurel Run Rd, just below Little Flat fire tower. Upon reexamination, the scrap of possible roadbed we spotted here before sure seems to trend onto Laurel Run Rd. It seems highly likely that the large horseshoe shown by Kline corresponds with the horseshoe in the present road.

We split up, with me headed up Fleet Foot Trail, and Vince headed up the hill near Bear Gap Rd, both starting from Laurel Run Rd. Despite a fresh blue blaze on the signpost at the bottom, I found no blazes on Fleet Foot Trail, and quickly lost it in a burned over area. It was nice having Vince’s new FRS radios to keep in touch, and they generally had no problem covering this distance.

The burned over area was covered knee deep in huckleberry, which made me a bit antsy. Sure enough, after a short distance I nearly stepped on a rather fat rattlesnake lying prostrate in the shrubberies. I decided to continue very cautiously, using a large stick to disturb the area ahead, and sticking to elevated tree trunks whenever possible. I love wildlife. From a distance!

Vince radioed that he had reached the Mid State Trail atop the hill, and after a while I reached it as well. We conferred via radio and decided to meet at the junction of the MST with North Meadows trail, and then explore the saddle in the mountain in that area (which seemed a likely path into Bear Meadows).

The saddle area turned out to be home to the “Indian Wells” mentioned by Thwaites. I had always wondered if these might be areas where rocks were stolen for roadbed building, but examination seemed to rule out the possibility. We saw no good sign of any roadbed crossing the mountain, so maybe we were still in the wrong area.

Vince decided to head directly downhill from the junction, while I chose to go down North Meadows  trail (?) to North Bear Meadows Rd. The descent is rapid, and neither of us saw anything of note. Reaching NBM Rd (gated) at the bottom, we noticed a short stretch on the meadows side which seemed suspicious, but again no clear sign of roadbed. It seems likely the NBM is at least partly former roadbed, so further examination seems warranted.

After picking up the car, we went over to Linden Hall to see if any of my satellite studies seemed to make sense. As on previous visits, clear evidence of the mill’s location seems absent. We gotta find the book on Linden Hall’s history!

After picking up Vince’s truck, we went SW on Laurel Run Rd so I could see his previously-found scrap in Hubler Gap. We stopped several places along LRR which seemed like possible switchback-to-Bear-Meadows areas, with nothing found. In Hubler Gap it turns out they were building nice rock roadbed, even this far out on the system.

We then decided to see if Kline’s map showing track continuing SW along Laurel Run Rd (from the junction with Pine Swamp Rd) was correct. I sent Vince off beyond the stream, which elicited loud shouts. Changing back into boots, I followed and saw what had him so excited. He’d found some really nicely preserved wood-stringers. It appears that at this extreme end of track, they had resorted to a quicker construction method. Ironic that even their garbage track is still visible nearly a century later! We’ll come back and fully document this spur later.

The path(s) from Stone Creek Rd through Stone Gap seems pretty indeterminate. It seems likely one route is under the existing road through the gap into Penn Roosevelt park. But examination in the SW corner of the gap shows clear RoW headed along the stream into the gap. Then it disappears It’s unclear whether it has been wiped by flooding or whether it never continued into the gap. Was this a deadend spur, or was there actually a very big wye formed by two tracks through the gap?

It seems logical that route through Sand and/or Triester mountains would be in the gap at the zigzag in Crowfield Rd. But we’ve walked that gap, and gone up either side to the ends of Sand and Triester Mtns. No sign found! Is it just buried in the undergrowth, or what?

After considerable explorations, we can’t find the large horseshoe depicted by Kline in the vicinity of Faust Flat. Though it would seem it should pass through Smith Gap, no sign was found there, and the terrain seems very steep.

We have definite roadbed in the vicinity of Underwood Trail, but it disappears into brutal undergrowth before reaching Smith Gap.

Just where are the darn switchbacks into Bear Meadows? And looking at how rocky and steep Little Flat mountain is, why didn’t they just use the old tramroad route? Hmmm.

Precisely where was the sawmill at Linden Hall, and how did the railroad reach it? Examining Penn Pilot images and satellite views gives a few possible clues, but nothing definite. There is supposedly a book on Linden Hall’s history, which we need to find and peruse!